The
narrow gauge Little Train of Pelion
[gauge of 60 cm] started operating
between Volos and Lehonia in 1895
and between Lehonia and Milies in
1903, covering a total distance of
approximately 29 klm. It was ingeniously
designed and constructed by the Italian
engineer Evaristo de Chirico, father
of the world renowned surrealist painter
Giorgio de Chirico, who, born and
schooled in the area, drew his thematology
for the metaphysical period of his
work especially from his childhood
memories of the mountain of the Centaurs
and Argonauts. The train was instrumental
in the economic and cultural development
of Pelion by making distances shorter
and thereby facilitating the transportation
of both goods and people, and, more
importantly, by rendering the dissemination
of ideas easier and more effective,
given the fact that the mountain,
especially in the north, is high and
steep and therefore not easily accessible.
Having been superseded by the motor
vehicle, however, the Little Train
was decommissioned in 1971 because
it was deemed to be uneconomical.
Despite this, his friends never forgot
their "Moudzouris" [an endearing
term meaning "the smoky train"],
and, after applying pressure to the
right quarters, they managed to have
it reinstated into service after about
25 years. Today it operates at weekends
in high season only for tourist purposes,
and a ride on it is the favourite
excursion of Pelion visitors of all
ages and nationalities.